Telenor’s shares soared like hypersonic rocket amid Earnings Report
2023.02.02 09:03
Telenor’s shares soared like hypersonic rocket amid Earnings Report
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – On Thursday, Telenor’s earnings for the fourth quarter came in slightly ahead of expectations, as the Norwegian telecom operator predicted that its Nordic business’ service revenue and core profit would continue to grow in 2023.
Telenor and the rest of the telecom industry, according to Chief Executive Sigve Brekke, would likely survive a global recession because consumers are cutting back on spending on mobile phones because they consider them to be “crucial.”
Brekke told that:
“you cut on other consumption long before you cut on your mobile, whether it’s in Norway or Bangladesh.”
For the months of October through December, Telenor’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were the same as last year, at 10.1 billion crowns ($1.02 billion), while analysts had expected 9.9 billion crowns on average.
Telenor shares rebounded from a December 20 low of 87.60 crowns to reach 111.35 crowns, their highest level since August 25 of last year.
A dividend of 9.40 crowns per share was proposed by Telenor for 2022, up from 9.30 crowns for 2021.
In September, the operator made the announcement that it might list its Asian unit and restructure its Nordic business, both of which would probably result in a closer integration of Telenor’s Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish units.
Brekke reported that its mobile service revenues increased by 5% in the quarter, indicating the region’s potential for growth, despite Telenor’s prediction that the Nordic business will experience growth of low to mid-single digits for both service revenue and EBITDA this year.
In a note to clients, Credit Suisse stated, “Consensus is also sitting on the low end of the service revenue guidance range, which could be an element of upside.”
According to the company, higher energy costs and a provision related to Bangladesh’s value added tax on 2G license payments contributed to an 8 percent increase in operating expenses in the fourth quarter.
Brekke stated:
“Because the price adjustment has been quite marginal, we have not adjusted the prices even close to inflation.”
The operator, which has approximately 158 million customers in Asia and the Nordics, completed a $15 billion merger last year to become a telecoms leader in Malaysia. Its Malaysian unit is now listed as no longer in business.
It stated that the $8.6 billion deal it has with Thailand is also nearing completion.
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